January 29, 2021

Day: January 29, 2021

More Persons Have Access to Potable Water

Posted on

The quality of life for many Jamaicans was greatly improved, as the Government continued its work to establish and upgrade water supply systems.

Water Supply Systems Commissioned

•          The $400-million Claremont to Jericho Water Supply System in Hanover was commissioned into service, benefitting approximately 8,000 persons.

•          The $110-million Flower Hill Water Supply System in Montego Bay, St. James, was turned on.

•          A $135-million upgrading project in Portland Cottage, Clarendon,

            became fully operational, bringing water to some 8,000 residents.

Other Water Supply Projects

•          Ground was broken to establish the $300 million Caanan/Adelphi Water Supply System, which will benefit more than 70,000 residents.

•          A total of 20 catchment tanks were renovated with capacity to hold more than 100,000 gallons of water.

•          Some 38 schools were fitted with solar-powered rainwater harvesting

            systems.

•          Contract signed for US$13 million Portmore Co-management Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Reduction Programme.

•          A US$25 million contract signed for a transmission main upgrade that will

            improve the water supply between Six Miles and Blake Road in Kingston.

Drought Mitigation –

•          More than 100 one-thousand-gallon storage tanks were distributed to the hardest-hit communities.

•          A Drought Management Committee was established to manage

execution of the Government’s drought management plan.

NWC Discount For Customers

•          NWC residential and condominium customers benefited from a 30 per cent discount on outstanding bills under the agency’s COVID-19 Assistance Programme (CAP). Commercial customers were offered a 25 per cent discount.

•          Under CAP, the NWC wrote off $117 million in debt. A total of 10,607 persons took up the offer.

•          The NWC waived reconnection fees for customers whose service was disconnected prior to the announcement of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Jamaica.

More Houses Provided For Jamaicans

Posted on

More Jamaicans realised their dream of owning their own home as the Government continued to fulfil its mandate of providing affordable housing solutions for citizens.

More opportunities were created for the young, elderly, poor and indigent person to become homeowners, with the National Housing Trust (NHT) completing 1,045 housing solutions at a cost of $7.6 billion and the Housing Agency of Jamaica (HAJ) delivering 292 solutions comprising serviced lots and houses.

NHT Developments

•          113 housing solutions were completed at Forthill Estate, 90 at Windcrest Hills, and 110 at Twickenham Glades in St. Catherine; 12 at Yeast Plant in Westmoreland; 28 in Denham Town, Kingston; 41 in Savannah Park, Westmoreland; 115 at Perth 1A, Manchester; 63 at Industry Manor, Hanover; 81 in Monymusk Glades, Clarendon; 14 at Brompton Manor, St. Elizabeth; and 28 in Cashew Grove, St. James.

Increased Assistance to Purchase NHT Units

•          Existing mortgagors benefited from a 0.5 per cent reduction and new mortgagors benefited from a one per cent reduction.

•          Contributors up to age 70 are able to access housing benefits as voluntary contributors.

Special Relief for NHT Mortgagors

•          Moratorium on payments for mortgagors impacted by COVID-19. All late fees were suspended for accounts with arrears less than 90 days.

•          Special relief for mortgagors with loan accounts in arrears (90 days or more).

•          Special waivers on unpaid late fee penalties.

Housing Agency of  Jamaica

•          Ground broken for $9.5 billion Catherine Estates housing development in Dunbeholden, St. Catherine, which will provide 1,650 affordable solutions at a cost of $9.5 billion.

•          Over 195 solutions, comprising 123 serviced lots and 72 housing units, were handed over to new owners.

•          455 titles were prepared for the January to November period, of which 82 were issued and 375 are awaiting collection.

•          The HAJ partnered with Food For the Poor to provide housing for two

            single-family households in Portmore, St. Catherine.

Social Housing Programme

•          A new $22.6 million multi-family house, was handed over to three sisters in

            Annotto Bay, St. Mary.

•          A one-bedroom unit was handed over to an 88 year-old physically

            challenged man in Bogue District, St. Elizabeth.

•          Two units were presented to recipients in Old Harbour Bay, St. Catherine, one of whom is visually impaired, who received a two-bedroom house. The other beneficiary was presented with a three-bedroom house.

Government Continues to Invest in Training and Jobs

Posted on

Throughout the year, the Government continued to  implement programmes aimed at empowering Jam-aican citizens, particularly young people, who benefited from skills training and employment opportunities.

Jamaica House Fellows

•          Seven young professionals were selected as the second cohort for the

            Jamaica House Fellowship Programme and will serve in various capacities within the public sector for a two years.

HOPE Programme

•          50 youngsters were recruited to assist with the electronic monitoring of Jamaicans, who returned to the island under the controlled re-entry programme, to control the local spread of COVID-19.

•          40 young people were recruited to work on the Ministry of Science,

            Energy and Technology’s digitisation programme for 12 months.

•          An initial cohort of 50 young persons benefited under a driver-training programme, aimed at transforming them into professional public

            transportation agents.

•          23 interns were engaged in the production of more than 50,000 cloth masks, with 30,000 distributed to citizens, particularly the needy, and the rest sold to corporate sponsors.

•          7,546 persons were facilitated in educational and job opportunities

            over four weeks under the HOPE Summer Employment Programme.

Utility Wardens Trained

•          93 persons from 18 communities across seven parishes were trained to work in their communities as utility wardens to ensure that residents had access to plumbers with leak detection and water conservation expertise. 

HEART/NSTA Trust

•          The HEART/NSTA Trust launched a mobile training unit, which will serve trainees in rural areas.

•          MOU signed with Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) to

            increase the viability and sustainability of the National Council on

            Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) assessment and certification of the labour force.

Improved Road Network

Posted on

T he Government continued to demonstrate its commitment to improving the country’s road infrastructure to reduce travel time and ensure the connectivity and productivity of urban centres, by embarking on, and completing several     rehabilitation projects islandwide.

Maintenance of  Secondary Roads

•          A sum of $1.58 billion was spent to undertake works on several community roadways across the island, under the National Works Agency (NWA) Maintenance of Secondary Roads Programme.

•          Work was completed on the Hampden to Adelphi roadway at a cost of $22.7 million, as well as upgrading works along a section of the North Gully, located in the Green Pond community, at a cost of $10 million.

•          Rehabilitation of the Somerton to Virgin Valley roadway, was completed at a cost of $21.8 million.

•          Several roadways across western parishes were     repaired under the $160 million Hot Mix Patching Programme, including several corridors in Westmoreland, Hanover, St. James and Trelawny.

Other Road Projects

•          The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) rolled out a major road rehabil-itation project in Treadlight, Clarendon, at a cost of approximately $150 million.

•          The Guava Ridge to Content Gap roadway in East Rural St. Andrew was

            rehabilitated at a cost of $253 million.

•          Several retaining walls were restored and drainage systems repaired along roadways serving nine communities in East Rural St. Andrew, at a cost of $30 million.

•          NWA collaborated with the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) to complete road-marking activities over the 57-kilometre stretch from Runaway Bay, St. Ann to Rose Hall in St. James, at a cost of $65.4 million.

•          Also, through partnership with TEF, the NWA commenced improvements along sections of West End Road in Negril, Westmoreland. 

•          NWA also completed special projects to rehabilitate community and parochial roads that are used to access social institutions such as schools, health centres and churches, at a cost of $173.6 million.

•          Two tranches of mitigation activities were undertaken in May and November under the Government’s Islandwide Mitigation Programme, at a  cost of $956 million.

•          NWA cleaned gullies and drains islandwide at a cost of $179.8 million

Recovery Assistance for Road Repairs Following Heavy Rains

•          Government spent $2.35 billion to clear landslides, reopen roadways and      undertake temporary restorative works due to infrastructural damage caused by the passage of Tropical Storms Laura, Delta, Zeta and Eta.

•          Work advanced on the Gordon Town alternative road in Savage Pen, east rural St. Andrew, which is being undertaken at a cost of $60 million.

Bridges

•          A new bridge in Bowden Hill, St. Andrew was commissioned into service at a cost of  $31 million.

•          A rehabilitated bridge was opened along Liguanea Avenue in St. Andrew, at a cost of $26.5 million.

•          The renovated East Palm Bridge in Port Antonio was officially opened at a cost of $24.3 million.

Economy Remains Stable

Posted on

The economy continued to show stability despite the effects of COVID-19.

•          The lowest levels of interest rates for mortgages and consumer loans in the history of Jamaica.

•          The most stable period of low inflation to benefit consumers and fixed

            income earners.

•          Abolition of the minimum business tax and the intro- duction of the $375,000 MSME tax credit.

•          1.5 per cent reduction in General Consumption Tax.

•          7.8 per cent growth in agriculture, forestry and fishing and 2.2 per cent in manufacturing during the March quarter.

•          Net International Reserves totalling over US$3 billion.

Global Ratings

•          Fitch Rating Agency and Standard and Poor’s affirmed  Jamaica’s ‘B+’ rating.

Rapid Financing Instrument

•          The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board approved a US$520 million disbursement to Jamaica, under the entity’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI), in response to the Government’s request to access the facility as part of COVID-19 precautionary safeguards.

Bank of Jamaica  Safeguards

•          The provision of $76 billion (four per cent of GDP) in

            Jamaican dollar support, and direct foreign exchange sales to authorised dealers and cambios, with daily purchases averaging US$30.4 million between March and November.

•          Foreign exchange sales, totalling US$242.3 million, via the B-FXITT platform since March to make up for market shortfalls.

•          Facilitation of the real-time gross settlement system, which enables electronic payments, in collaboration with commercial banks to prevent disruption in critical services.

•          Maintaining the policy rate offered on overnight placements by deposit-taking institutions at 0.50 per cent.

Multilateral Support 

•          $262-million Japan Economic and Social Development Programme grant to purchase medical equipment and supplies in response to COVID-19.     

TransJamaica Highway Limited IPO

•          A total of 36,428 applications were received for the Initial Public Offering (IPO), which opened on February 17 with eight billion shares and was upsized to 10 billion shares as a result of oversubscription. The shares were priced at $1.41 each, and saw the venture yielding more than $14 billion. 

CAP Commercial Agreement

•          Clarendon Alumina Production Limited (CAP) reached a commercial agreement with its partner in the unincorporated Jamalco joint venture – the Noble Group.

•          Under the terms, CAP will, among other things, repay debt obligations totalling approximately US$136.7 million to the Noble Group, via Government loan.

•          Additionally, Noble’s loan security arrangement will be released on repayment of the debt.  

Gov’t’s Largest Stimulus Package Ever

Posted on

The Government initiated the $10-billion COVID-19 Allocation of Resources for Employees (CARE) Programme, to assist affected    individuals and businesses.

The package formed part of a $25-billion stimulus, the largest in Jamaica’s history, which was earmarked in the $853.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2020/21.

•          Grants totalling more than $3.6 billion have, to date, been paid to more than 400,000 applicants.

•          $1.1 billion was also earmarked to supplement the Programme of

            Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).

COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force

•          Portfolio Minister, Dr.  the Hon. Nigel Clarke, chaired the 28-member multi-sectoral committee that was established to assist in piloting Jamaica’s recovery from the economic fallout related to COVID-19. The committee collated its findings and recommendations in a June 2020 report, titled, ‘Rebuild Jamaica’- which was tabled in Parliament.

Safety Net for the Elderly

•          Approximately 30,000 seniors are benefiting from a $1-billion safety net programme, instituted for persons not on PATH, or covered under the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), poor relief, or a pension plan.

Health Systems Strengthened

Posted on

The Ministry launched a major tender for the retrofitting of 110 health facilities with technology that will provide high-speed internet capacity, modern ICT infrastructure to include laptops and tablets, and the widespread use of the WHO’s Go Data platform for the collection and analysis of surveillance data to detect and manage diseases.

Vector Control Programme

•          A massive communication and behaviour change campaign designed to

            reinforce the principle of personal responsibility for health was launched.

•          Employed more than 1,000 vector control workers.

•          Increased the number of dedicated vector-control vehicles from 25 to 85 at a cost of more than $289 million.

•          Collaborated with municipal corporations and the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to remove bulky waste that harbours the dreaded Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes.

Compassionate Care Programme

•          The programme has, so far, facilitated the training of approximately 3,000 health workers, including clinical, technical, administrative, skilled and non-skilled staff.

•          10 facilities have been upgraded, which included accident and emergency and/or waiting rooms.

            These are:

            •          Victoria Jubilee Hospital

            •          Cornwall Regional

                        Hospital         

            •          St. Ann’s Bay Hospital

            •          Falmouth Hospital

            •          Black River Hospital

            •          Black River Health Services  (Type 5 Health Centre)

            •          Noel Holmes Hospital

            •          Robins Hall Health Centre

            •          Kitson Town Health  Centre   

            •          St. James Health Services

                        (Type 5 Health Centre)

Adopt-A-Clinic

•          22 clinics have been adopted while seven are pending, with committed support of approximately $81.4 million over three years.

Technical Cooperation Agreement between Jamaica and Cuba

•          Portfolio Minister Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, and Cuba’s Ambassador  to Jamaica, Her Excellency Inés Fors Fernández, signed a Technical Cooperation Agreement to facilitate additional Cuban health professionals and technicians  to boost the public health sector’s staff complement.

Health Ministry Steadfast in Fight Against COVID-19

Posted on

Over $6 billion was spent in the national response which included: 

•          $775 million to health facilities to help in supporting the associated needs;

•          Infrastructure upgrades at a  cost of more than $89 million;

•          The provision of medical equipment, such as personal protective

            equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 test kits at a cost of more than $1.7 billion;

•          Procurement of prescription drugs, valued over $500 million, through the

            National Health Fund for COVID-19 treatment.

COVID-19 Recovery Plan

This plan targets the attainment of an adequate legal framework to implement responses to COVID-19. It also targets:

•          Multisectoral and multidisciplinary approaches through the strengthening of national partnerships; 

•          An increase in skilled and competent personnel for public health surveillance;

•          The strengthening of 87 laboratories;

•                      Strengthened surveillance systems to detect significant  developments relating to public health and health security.

Specific actions under the plan, many of which are now underway, include:

•          A review of existing legislation to align them with the international health

            regulations  requirements, and drafting of policies that support infection

            prevention and control measures at home, in communities and at the workplace;

•          The strategic and human resource review of the Health Emergency

            Operations Centre;

•          The creation of some 2,208 posts for community health aides;

•          Accelerated programme for contact tracing;

•          The creation of 500 posts for public health inspectors; and

•          The review of the organisational structure for medical officers of health in each parish.

PROMAC

•          All four high-dependency units (HDUs) under the Programme for the

            Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality  (PROMAC) were

            constructed at a cost of $1.5 billion.

•          Jamaica now has 48 high-dependency spaces, 38 new high-dependency beds and 10 new isolation suites, specifically for pregnant women and their newborns.

These are in addition to:

•                      Six ambulances, radio-graphic, ultrasound equipment and some

            150 midwifery bags, which were procured at a cost of  of $187.6 millions, to enhance the quality of primary care and improve the referral system.

•          The training of more than 230 doctors and nurses in specialised programmes, including paediatric medicine, obstetrics, gynaecology, and anaesthesia and intensive care; and

•          Fellowships in neo-natology, maternal foetal medicine and emergency obstetrics.

Jamaicans Returned Home

Posted on

Controlled Re-Entry Programme

•          The country’s borders were reopened to repatriated nationals on June 1 and

            on June 15 for all international travellers.

•          Under this programme, the Government assisted repatriated Jamaicans, some of whom were trapped in vessels at sea and elsewhere overseas, to return. 

•          The Government partnered with technology company, Amber Group Limited, to create the Jamcovid19 website.

Other Prevention and Containment Strategies

•          Some high-risk communities were placed under quarantine and an islandwide curfew was instituted.

•          Limitations were placed on the operation of churches, including the prohibition of funerals, crusades, conferences, conventions and other special events.

•          Strict stipulations were also instituted in relation to weddings and burials.

•          Entertainment events requiring permits were

            suspended.

•          Bars, beaches and other entertainment venues were ordered closed.

•          Community bars were eventually allowed to reopen under strict guidelines.

Special Body to Deal with COVID-19

•          The 28-member multi-sectoral COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force, chaired by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, was established to oversee Jamaica’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

Strong Leadership in Tackling Covid-19

Posted on

The Government initiated preparations for the national response to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) weeks ahead of the first confirmed case on March 10.

Early Response Mechanisms

•          Travel restrictions were imposed on certain countries, beginning with the People’s Republic of China.

•          Early-childhood institutions, primary, preparatory and secondary schools, and community and teachers’ colleges were closed for an initial 14 days, with subsequent extensions of this intervention.

•          Teaching and learning continued remotely, while face-to-face instructions were reintroduced later in the year as a pilot.

•          Special powers under the Disaster Risk Management Act, the Emergency

            Powers Act and the Public Health Act were activated.

•          Airports and seaports were closed to incoming passengers on March 21 for an initial 14 days.

Measures for Workers

•          In mid-March, the Government stipulated that all non-essential employees and persons over age 65 in the public and private sector work from home for an initial seven days as part of containment measures.

•          Stipulations relating to non-essential workers expired on May 31, and were replaced by a new Order on June 1, which allowed those employees to return to the workplace.

•          Employers were encouraged to make allowances for certain categories of employees to continue working from home.

•          These included persons with underlying health conditions, those with children, and those who had sick and/or elderly persons in their care.

•          All business process outsourcing (BPO) centres were ordered closed for 14 days, in response to a workplace outbreak that caused a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases.

Equipment Procured for COVID-19 Fight

•          A US$2.2 million contract was approved to procure personal protective equipment, inclusive of 400,000 N95 masks, for front-line health workers.

•          The United States donated US$700,000 (J$95 million) towards

            the national COVID-19 response.

•          Canada provided PPEs  for healthcare workers and medical equipment and supplies for five isolation areas in hospitals, including 457,372 surgical masks, 27,445 KN95 respirator masks, and five resuscitation trolleys.

•          The Medical Association of Jamaica donated 100,000 N95 masks.

•          Ventilators, N95 masks, and other medical equipment and non-medical support were obtained through donations from international partners – including the European Union, South Korea, People’s Republic of China, International Atomic Energy Agency and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).